Pollen-based ‘paper’ holds promise for new generation of natural components, NTU Singapore scientists show

Scientists at NTU Singapore have created a paper-like material derived from pollen that bends and curls in response to changing levels of environmental humidity.

The ability of this paper made from pollen to alter its mechanical characteristics in response to external stimuli may make it useful in a wide range of applications, including soft robots, sensors, artificial muscles, and electric generators.

Combined with digital printing, pollen paper may hold promise for the fabrication of a new generation of programmable natural actuators – components in a machine that are responsible for moving and controlling a mechanism.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America last week, show how the NTU Singapore team formulated the paper using softened pollen grains. They demonstrated the pollen-based paper’s properties by folding it into a flower that ‘blooms’ in the presence of water vapour. They also showed that the pollen material’s physical properties can be adjusted, with a strip of pollen-based paper that is able to ‘walk’.